CONCORD, N.C. — Dick Trickle was the driver other racers couldn’t wait to see at the racetrack.

But he was the driver they didn’t want to see on the track as he was often the man to beat at short tracks throughout the Midwest.

Dick Trickle was known as a racing legend at short tracks throughout the Midwest. (Sporting News Photo)

Trickle, a Wisconsin racer who won more than 1,200 feature races throughout his career and became a household name on ESPN’s SportsCenter, died at age 71 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday afternoon.

Trickle, who was from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., inspired hundreds of racers throughout the Midwest.

“I’m in 100 percent shock,” said NASCAR Hall of Famer and St. Louis native Rusty Wallace. “Dick Trickle was my mentor. When I was short-track racing, I would call him every Monday morning and he would always help me with race setups and stuff.

“He and I had such a good time telling little stories, but he was the guy that taught me almost everything in the (Midwestern) American Speed Association. And he was the guy that I battled right to the end for my 1983 ASA championship. I barely beat the guy that taught me everything.”

Trickle was a legend at Wisconsin’s La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, which even named a race after him — the Dick Trickle 99. After winning hundreds of races throughout the Midwest, he spent more than a dozen years racing at NASCAR’s highest level but never won a NASCAR Cup race. But he was the idol of many short-track racers.

Known for going hard off the track as well as on it, Trickle had a working lighter in his racecars that he used to light cigarettes.

“He was such a mentor to all the younger short-track drivers, to everybody,” said Tim Fedewa, a Michigan racer who along with his family competed against Trickle both on the short tracks as well as in what is now the Nationwide Series.

“He took the time to talk to you, to tell the stories he had, drink beer with you — just a good guy. Then you get on the racetrack and he was the man to beat.”

Johnny Sauter, also from Wisconsin, was so distraught in hearing the news — he had just seen Trickle in the last couple of weeks — that he didn’t want to talk following Camping World Truck Series practice Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“Dick Trickle is one of those guys that was part of the sport in a number of ways,” said defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, a native of Rochester Hills, Mich. “(He) meant a lot to the local short-track racers and the Midwest style of racing, which was track by track when NASCAR was more of a regional Southern sport.

“He was the superstar of that style, of that genre and era. So it is very sad to see him go and obviously difficult with the way it went.”

Former Cup driver and 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, who competed against Trickle, was at the Charlotte track watching his son practice when he heard the news.

“When I started racing, he was one of the heroes in the sport that you looked up to,” said Burton, who competed against Trickle in Cup. “Nobody could play as hard and work as hard as Dick Trickle.

“There wasn’t many that could keep up with him.”

Burton remembered Trickle having a strong fan following.

“Dick Trickle had a lot of fans from all over,” Burton said. “Dick treated people the way he wanted to be treated. He came from that old school.

“He was a good ambassador for the sport.”

Drivers remembered Trickle’s No. 99 car showing up at the track and knowing that it would be a tough race.

“He was a special dude,” said former NASCAR racer Terry Cook, who grew up in Ohio and looked up to Trickle. “He was a guy that would race five or six nights a week. … He was a threat to win every single week.”

NASCAR Chairman Brian France remembered Trickle as a fan favorite.

“Dick was a legend in the short-track racing community, particularly in his home state of Wisconsin, and he was a true fan favorite,” France said in a statement. “Personalities like Dick Trickle helped shape our sport. He will be missed.”

Fedewa tried to explain why.

“He carried the flag for all of us Midwest racers, for sure,” Fedewa said. “He was always just the best, taking time to talk to you and make you feel like somebody.